Most people associate Chris Bangle with BMW, the first American to have held the title of Chief of Design at BMW, and of course the E65 7-Series that made him as many foes as there were fans. A consummate speaker with the enviable ability to articulate a subject as complex as design to the layperson (not to mention energizing audiences), Bangle is perhaps less well known for his management style and ethos.
In this five-minute video (shot in 2014), we get a glimpse of how it is to have him as a boss, what inspired him, his days at GM and Fiat, even his view on electric cars…and more importantly, how he managed design at BMW for 17 years. Fascinating.
(Bangle currently runs a design consultancy firm called Chris Bangle Associates)
